1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a Faraday cage designed to allow relatively unshielded commercial test equipment to operate in environments of high electromagnetic interference (EMI) without adverse effect, and to be lightweight, portable, and stowable in a small amount of space when not in use.
2. Description of the Prior Art
U.S. Pat. No. 4,785,136 discloses a shielding cover for electronic equipment in which a five-sided box is permanently sewn together from conductive fabric and placed over the equipment, possibly with the aid of a rigid frame, and attached to a conductive bottom piece of the box with means such as Velcro. To the extent that this cover is self-supporting, it is not foldable for stowage, and to the extent that it is foldable for stowage, it is not self-supporting.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,390,491 discloses an inflatable tent used as a shielding cover for electronic equipment. While this is collapsible for stowage, it is far too complex for use in shielding single pieces of equipment, and requires the operator to enter the inflated structure through an air-tight door.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,068,087 discloses a prefabricated shielded cabin composed of rigid panels which can be assembled around a frame of solid tubes and half tubes, and can be disassembled for easy transportation The complexity is suited to a large structure, but is not appropriate for a simple structure to shield single pieces of equipment.